Lets talk about tempo runs. I would like to hear how everyone describes a tempo run, how far, and how fast they should be.

Me:

The term tempo run is thrown around quite a bit, and the exact definition that I prescribe to is offered by Jack Daniels.

Tempo Run Pace = 1 hour race pace

So, it is impossible for Hall to do a 15 mile tempo run as he's uploaded on the interwebs. 12 miles is pushing the brink of a 1/2 marathon time trial, and his paces are not approaching the 4:35 / mile required for his 59:43 / 1:0X shape he is currently in.

So, lets talk about tempo runs, eh.

Of course, lactate production occurs at all levels of running, so 1 hour race pace per mile +20 seconds could still be considered a tempo run of sorts, eh..? but lets not go too much further than that.

I use 80-90% of velocity at VO2max. For the high school athletes I coach I use a Daniels' chart to estimate their velocity of VO2max based on recent race performances. We'll do 80-85% tempo during the summer/winter and early season and move to 85-90% in season. Length-wise it can vary from tempo pickups of various lengths to sustained tempo. Fit upperclassmen will occasionally do as much as 35-40 minutes of tempo, but it's usually more like 20-30 minutes.

There are all sorts of definitions that get thrown around on here. A fairly large number of people just mean running a set distance at a fairly hard pace but not balls to the wall. That's likely what Hall means by doing a twelve-mile tempo. In my experience most such "tempo runs" are at least three miles, usually about 4-6 and rarely longer than 10.

The MonBRO Doctrine wrote:A fairly large number of people just mean running a set distance at a fairly hard pace but not balls to the wall.

Count me as one. I never know what my 1 hour race pace is anyway, so how is that supposed to help?

When I do a tempo, after I warm up I just concentrate on settling into a pace that I have to concentrate to hold but I can go faster than if necessary. When done properly the last mile is always the fastest but I still feel controlled till the end.

The MonBRO Doctrine wrote:A fairly large number of people just mean running a set distance at a fairly hard pace but not balls to the wall.

Count me as one. I never know what my 1 hour race pace is anyway, so how is that supposed to help?

When I do a tempo, after I warm up I just concentrate on settling into a pace that I have to concentrate to hold but I can go faster than if necessary. When done properly the last mile is always the fastest but I still feel controlled till the end.

well, i guess the '1 hour race pace' number is organic. Ask yourself and give an honest answer, "how far could i get in a 1 hour race this saturday or last saturday, and try to run that pace... as long as your honest with yourself, you should be able to get 20-30 minutes at that pace".

bangalangadanga wrote:well, i guess the '1 hour race pace' number is organic. Ask yourself and give an honest answer, "how far could i get in a 1 hour race this saturday or last saturday, and try to run that pace... as long as your honest with yourself, you should be able to get 20-30 minutes at that pace".

That makes sense, but to me, it's important to go by feel rather than by a certain pace. In other words, I'm not going to look at my training, try to extrapolate a pace at which I could race for an hour, and then try to hold that pace during the tempo. I'll just go do the run and figure it out by feel.

It may seem like a silly distinction to make but for years I tried to figure out a pace to run beforehand, and made the mistake of doing my tempos too hard as the result of wishful thinking--how fast I thought I should do them, as opposed to what was realistic for my current fitness.

I think most runners, myself included, think of a tempo run as any effort between easy pace and track/interval pace. I know that sounds terribly unscientific but we're talking about a spectrum of paces here, not an exact number or set distance.